Mild cognitive impairment in Parkinson disease: heterogenous mechanisms.

J Neural Transm. 2012 Feb 18. [Epub ahead of print]

Jellinger KA.

Abstract

Cognitive impairment is common in Parkinson disease (PD), with long-term longitudinal studies reporting that most PD patients develop dementia. A high proportion of patients with PD and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) progress to dementia within a short time. Impairments occur in a range of cognitive domains, but single-domain impairment is more common than multiple one, non-amnestic more common than amnestic impairment. Although the term MCI applied to PD (PD-MCI) is not without controversy due to the lack of uniform diagnostic consensus criteria, the biological validity of PD-MCI is supported by many recent studies that show heterogenous mechanisms in the clinical presentation, neuropsychology, neuroimaging, biomarkers, and neuropathology, suggesting abnormal metabolic network activities involving several cortical and subcortical nervous systems. Prospective studies using specific biomarkers, including amyloid imaging, and cerebro-spinal fluid biomarkers are warranted for an exact diagnosis and prognostic assessment of early cognitive deficits in PD patients.